A Friend of the Forest
by Inuhoono
Summary: A story based off of the wonderful pictures of ailtern on tumbler. Ruby and her mother, the famed huntress Summer, live in a cabin surrounded by a magical forest. This story chronicles the adventure that Ruby has and the many wonderful creatures she will meet.


Once upon a time, there was a cabin in the woods. In this cabin lived the famed Huntress Summer Rose as well as her daughter Ruby Rose. The two lived in that cabin happily, though often Summer had to leave to go to work helping people with monsters. The woods that surrounded the cabin was magical, full of creatures that one would not usually find. While many were friend, there were also many who were not and all were wary of humans who moved through the forest. But Summer was considered a Friend of the Forest and thus was able to move more easily than others though danger was still there.

When Ruby was younger, she would often ask her mother if she could go into the forest. "Not now my gem," Summer would always reply, "you are too young to go into the forest." This would upset Ruby, especially since when her mother was gone she had no one to play with, but she would still obey. For many years she had asked this and always she got; "Not now my gem, you are too young to go into the forest."

That was, until she turned 12. This time, while Summer was preparing to go on a mission, when Ruby asked to go, a wide smile crossed her mother's face as she said, "Why yes, my gem, I believe that it is time for you to enter the forest."

Ruby was very happy to hear this. Summer helped her daughter in putting on a red cloak with a hood and a beige tunic underneath. Summer even gave Ruby a wooden staff that the girl could use to help her find her way and move about in the forest. However, Summer told Ruby that she could not go into the forest until a day after her mommy left.

"But why can't I go with you?" Ruby would ask confused. This made

Summer smile as she said, "Because if you want to become a Friend of the Forest you must do it by your own words and actions. They will not accept you just because you are my daughter and if I go in with you, they will simply think that you are using me to become a Friend."

This made Ruby very nervous but she would nod. "Okay Mommy, I promise that I'll be a good girl and become a Friend!" Ruby declared with a wide smile.

"Very good, my gem," Summe said and bent her head to kiss her daughter, "now remember to stay very, very careful. The forest may not be as hostile as many would think… but there are some you should always avoid such as the Witch."

Ruby nodded again and after a few more preparation, Summer donned her white cloak and went into the forest. The next day Ruby got up at dawn and put on her cloak and gathered the food that her mother had set out for her the day before. Soon the young girl found herself at the edge of the forest she had so longed to enter. While she was happy and very excited for this day…part of her was also very scared. Summer had told her many tales of the forest and Ruby had read much from the books that her mother would bring her and while those tales were mostly good…there were also tales of terror.

However, after taking a deep breath, Ruby would finally step into the forest. Her bare feet soon became very wet with the dew of the morning that covered everything and covered the forest in a sort of fog as it began to evaporate in the heat. As she walked, Ruby looked all around her and made sure to pay attention to the smallest detail. While this was so that she would be aware if anything bad snuck up on her…she was also eagerly looking for one of the many creatures that lived in the forest; hoping to make friends with them. However, all that greeted her that morning was the singing of the birds and insects that could not be seen.

Ruby walked for a long time, until the dew was gone and the sun was high in the sky. Her little legs were tired and she soon searched and found a log which she could sit and rest. As she rested, she thought that now would be a good time to have a snack. Though, just when Ruby took her package and put it on her lap, she heard a rustling in the bushes. That made Ruby sit up straight as she looked around, fearful and yet excited at the same time for what it could be, when a Rabbit parted the bushes and appeared before Ruby.

The two stared at each other, the Rabbit obviously as startled as Ruby was at seeing each other. The young girl recovered quickly though as she smiled wide at her company.

"Hello!" Ruby greeted, waving at the Rabbit and staring into her big brown eyes that were the same colour as her hair and ears.

"Um…hello…" the Rabbit greeted in a voice that sounded funny to Ruby, looking the girl over a bit before she finally moved through the bushes to stand in front of Ruby. When she did, the Rabbit's gaze became gentler… as well as sad. "A human child…it has been a while since I have seen one of those. They use to come all the time…but then…well…" the Rabbit sighed before shaking her head. "Anyways, it's dangerous here in the forest. What are you doing here?"

Ruby shifted a bit nervously at the question. She could tell that the Rabbit was nice, of course it was, but the question made it seem as though she shouldn't be here. "My name is Ruby Rose…and I wanted to see the forest," she answered honestly.

That caused the Rabbit to blink as her ears twitched. "Rose? Are you Summer's daughter?" She asked.

That caused Ruby to smile wide again. "Yes! My mommy's Summer Rose!"

However the frown the Rabbit gave made Ruby feel as though she had answered wrong. "Do you come here in her name then?" she asked seriously, staring at the girl with a not very friendly look.

"N-no…" Ruby was quickly to comply, "I-I'm just Ruby…Ruby Rose."

The Rabbit nodded at this, and then looked to the package. "An early lunch, huh? I'm a bit hungry myself. Do you mind if I have some myself?" she would ask.

"Of course!" Ruby said without hesitation, making the Rabbit smile for the first time as she sat down on the log and the two ate the lunch together.

"You did well," the Rabbit said after their meal, "you took your own responsibility and were willing to share. Both will get you far in this forest. One word of advice though; don't mention you're Summer's daughter until a Folk learns about you more and get to know you better; that way people will just see you for you."

Ruby nodded eagerly at this. "Thank you! " she said just as quickly, "is there more you can tell me?"

The Rabbit smiled and was about to say more but suddenly her head went to the side and her ears became very erect. Ruby was very confused until the Rabbit gently took her hand. "Come, I'll introduce you to my friend and we'll talk more there. It's not safe here…" she said and while Ruby wanted to know why it wasn't safe, she trusted the Rabbit and would let her new friend lead her by the hand through the forest. They walked for a long time until they reached a huge tree with a clearing underneath.

Ruby thought that she could see a person sitting in it, and soon the Rabbit called out for that person. Slowly, a head would turn, look at them and then stand; almost the same height as the tree! The Giant walked towards the two and Ruby was a bit scared, but the Rabbit squeezed her hand to reassure her. "Don't worry, he won't hurt you," the Rabbit said as she moved so that Ruby was in front of her, placing her hands on the girl's shoulders. "He's a gentle giant." The Giant looked down at Ruby and after a moment would smile as he reached out a huge hand to her, a digit of his finger almost being as large as she was. Ruby swallowed her fear and took a breath to try to calm down as she reached one of her hands to touch the huge finger.

"Hello, it's really nice to meet you, I'm Ruby Rose," the young girl said, making the Giant smile more.

The Rabbit smiled proudly at how well Ruby was doing and would take the girl into the Giant's palm would then lift the both of them onto a branch of the huge tree. Ruby was so happy, having never been this high up before. The branch was so big that she could lay down five times over and not fear any part of her dangling. Ruby giggled in delight as she ran all around, throwing her arms out and pretending that she was flying.

"Now listen, there are some things that you should know," the Rabbit said after letting Ruby run around for a bit, sitting down and patting the space in front of her for Ruby herself to sit. "First, do not enter forest in the same direction as you did the day before. Any bad Folk who have an interest in you will soon realize this and will come after you that much sooner, but this way you will confuse them. Second, do not seek any Folk out until you meet me, as I will always be able to find you now that I've met you. That way you can know you are with good company at least at first. Now you should do your best to avoid the mountains for that is where Panther and Dragon fight. The two are always fighting for dominance over the mountain and have little regard for who might get hurt. Also, if you feel it getting cold or colder than it should be then you must run as fast as you can and not look back. That means that the Yuki-onna has found you and she will take your soul. Also, watch for the forest that is always in shadow; that is where the Witch lives and if she finds you…you may never be able to enter the forest again and that's if you're lucky…"

Ruby nodded solemnly at all of this, taking it all in. The Rabbit would then smile again. "Well…those are the big ones you need to watch out for. So long as you follow my advice, you should be fine," she said, then clapped her hand. "Now…it's safe where we are no, so what do you say we play?"

Ruby eagerly agreed and the tree of them spent the rest of the day in play. They would play tag and hide and seek and would search for buds and mushrooms and the giant would sometimes shake a branch they were on and they would have to hang on. When night was about to fall, the Rabbit escorted Ruby back to her cabin with the promise that they would play the next day. They do for the rest of the week until Summer came home.

"How is the forest, my little gem?" she asked her daughter after a very tight hug. "Did you make any friends?"

"Yes!" Ruby said, shaking with excitement as she began: "I meet the Rabbit and her friend the Giant and we play and tell stories and she helps me figure out what I can and can't eat and the Giant swings us around and she tells who I shouldn't meet and it's just so much fun!"

Summer smiled at hearing this. "The Rabbit, huh? That's good…I was hoping that you would meet her first," she said as she led Ruby and sat down with the girl in front of their fire. "But you should know that the Rabbit isn't always right with who she says is dangerous. To her, everyone and everything is dangerous but the small handful of Folk she really does trust."

Ruby frowned. "So…does that mean that everyone she said was dangerous isn't really?" she asked.

"Of course not, for I'm sure she mentioned the Witch who is and I'm sure the others she mentioned are more dangerous than she is, but that doesn't mean that you should only play with her," Summer explained. "Try to explore more of the forest and meet more Folk if you want to be a true Friend. Yes, there is a danger of meeting someone bad…but if you want to live, than you will have to take that risk."

Ruby smiled and said that she would. So the next time her mother left it was a cloudy day and she entered the forest, she told the Rabbit that she would like to explore the forest on her own. The Rabbit was a bit worried by this but she didn't stop Ruby; simply repeating all of the Folk that she told Ruby to avoid before. So, Ruby was once again on her own as she moved through the forest, excited for who she would meet next. After all, the Rabbit and the Giant were so nice; surely that's how most of the Folks were. Ruby had traveled a long distance before she saw a parting in the tree that seemed to shine despite the lack of sun-light. Curious, Ruby walked towards the opening…and gasp at what she saw.


End file.
